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Testing the Limits of Columbia’s Latest Outerwear in the Land of Fire and Ice

Layering for the extreme weather in Iceland

Jason Harper

7 November 2024

This is a sartorial question we’ve never before asked ourselves: What does one wear when descending into the heart of a volcano? This fall, on a trip with Columbia executives and designers to Iceland to test the Portland, Oregon-based company’s 2024 outdoor gear, this premise wasn’t a thought experiment. We were descending into the Þríhnúkagígur volcano via an open-air mining elevator, where we’d drop through a narrow fissure in the volcano’s maw before settling onto an expansive boulder-strewn bottom some 700 feet below. 

Unlike the very active Sundhnúksgígar volcano less than an hour away by car, this one has been dormant for 4,500 years. So, we needn’t layer for lava. But Iceland’s weather varies to extremes, and this day was wet and foggy and cool—and we were told it would be even chillier inside, with icy water plink-plunking onto our heads from above.

We took care to consult with the apparel experts on hand. Should we don the solar-insulating base layers (no, too hot) or the OutDry Extreme Wyldwood shell jacket and rain pants? (Most definitely, if we wanted to remain dry.) 

The Iceland expedition, which included everything from walking inside thunderous waterfalls to a several-hours-long trek on a glacier glinting in the late afternoon sun, was a particularly keen way to test the company’s latest offerings.

Columbia doesn’t license materials like Gore-Tex, instead relying on its own in-house engineering and design teams. Take the Wyldwood rain gear, with so-called “OutDry Extreme” technology that uses an exterior waterproof membrane. “It is extremely durable and will never wet out,” says Stephanie Beaudry, the senior global director of outerwear. “And this is the most eco-friendly section of the line. The shell never needs to be retreated with chemicals. We’ve worked hard to take the chemicals out.” 

Most importantly, the rain gear served its purpose, keeping us dry even in the extreme wet. We either wore or carried the shell with us the entire trip, and it will become essential on future hiking adventures. The shell and pants are both light and tailored to move along with the body, with welcome stretchiness while still accommodating under-layers or gear on a belt. We found the pieces to be genuinely breathable. We don’t know how many times we’ve been promised breathability and quickly overheated as if we were wearing a black Hefty bag.

Another piece that earned its place in our forever closet: the Vast Canyon Softshell pants. They are water repellent and charmingly elastic. The warmth along the legs was welcome, ideal for navigating the ice on a glacier wearing crampons (the pants are gusseted at the bottoms and have gaiter clips). All of the pockets zip, and the one on the thigh is ideal for keeping a phone secure.  

As for the rest of 2024 line, the new Arctic Crest down jackets with a newer version of Columbia’s solar-capturing insulation called Omni-Heat Arctic, available with a hood or without, are best for more wintry weather, and the Alpine Crux III Down puffer shows how far Columbia has progressed from the purely practical to city-friendly aesthetics. 

The biggest surprise was footwear, a relatively new offering from the brand. Executives acknowledge that the wealth of footwear engineers in the Portland area, where Nike is also based, has proved a boon. The brand calls its new footwear platform Omni-Max for its cushioning and stability technology. We gravitated toward the Konos TRS OutDry Mid Shoe, a hiking boot with the soft comforts of a sneaker, but with trustworthy stability around the ankle. We only needed a single hike before the trip to realize we didn’t need a further break-in session. Our feet were dry despite dousing them repeatedly in rivers; and the treads were amazingly tacky, allowing leaps from boulder to boulder.

We’ve previously been to Iceland in summer, and in the dead of winter. Mid-season proves no less beautiful, and no less temperamental. Having gear that weathers that variability can make all the difference.  

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The Enduring Allure Morgenthal Frederics Eyewear

Hand-carved buffalo horn frames distinguish this heritage brand

Julie Wolfson

21 October 2024

On North Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills, the Morgenthal Frederics boutique offers a quiet respite from the throngs of people drinking smoothies at Erewhon just a few doors away. Inside, the space evokes the feeling of a vintage library. The shelves display their namesake eyewear designs alongside their own Robert Marc label and likeminded luxury brands like Jacques Marie Mage, Chrome Hearts, Matsuda, Maybach, Mykita, Sosprisi and Cartier. With a focus on their bespoke hand-carved buffalo horn frames and other specialty material options, the experience of choosing something special feels like a customized fitting with an expert fashion stylist. 

“My first pair of Morgenthal Frederics horn glasses are special to me,” says Glenn Reisch, president of the brand. “I got them 15 years ago and still wear them today. I vividly remember the moment of trying them on. They were unlike anything I’d seen before and a little bolder than my go-to frames at the time. I felt confident and comfortable in my new frames. They instantly became part of me and articulated my personality like no glasses before them.”

In 2006, Morgenthal Frederics began working with buffalo horn. “The beauty of horn, because it’s a natural material, [means] each piece is unique unto itself,” says Reisch. “Totally one-of-a-kind, beautifully unique and exceptionally lightweight.” Through their custom program, clients can choose any element of their horn frames from the style and color to the finishing, accents and lens designs. 

Their opticians are in direct communication with their designers and are experts in working with this specialty material. For more intricate design needs, they can even set up appointments directly with their designers. Once the design is finalized, the work begins at their Germany factory where the frame is meticulously sculpted and shaped by hand over hundreds of hours.

“We are proud to offer a groundbreaking custom horn program that further sets Morgenthal Frederics apart by allowing our customers to work with our opticians and designers to create their one-of-a-kind frames,” says Reisch. “Our designers are always pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.” When working with hand carvings, cut outs, and vibrant new colors, it’s often the first time the design has been made in horn. Many of their customers have begun to collect horn frames. 

They focus on sustainable practices and an eco-conscious approach for making buffalo horn frames. “Firstly, no animals are harmed because we only use Indian water buffalo after their full and natural life cycle. The horn is then taken to our factory in Germany,” says Reisch. Each unique frame is created by compiling a minimum of eight to 20 layers of horn—comprising the details of the shape, textures and colors. 

“The resulting eyewear is truly one-of-a-kind. No two are the same. And the fact that we can do it in such a sustainable manner is a point of great pride for the brand,” says Reisch. “The factory in Germany is fully wind- and water-powered, and all waste from the horn frames is used as fertilizer in the vineyards around the factory.”

At their thirteen Morgenthal Frederics boutiques across the country they focus on tailoring the experience of choosing frames to each person’s unique needs and personality. “There is never a one-size-fits-all approach,” says Reisch. “Quite the opposite. Our bespoke philosophy is the only way to provide the absolute best products for perfect vision, style and comfort. The fact there isn’t one set formula is the fun part. Our ultimate goal is for our customers to feel confident and comfortable.”

Company collaborations have included Cartier, Oscar De La Renta, Salvatore Ferragamo and Sabyasachi. “We are very proud of our over-a-century-long expertise in opticianry that translates directly to the exceptional products and services we provide,” says Reisch. “The company mission is to make people feel great about their eyewear by creating one-of-a-kind pieces that enable our clients to express themselves and see better too.”

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Interview: Sabyasachi Opens in New York City

The acclaimed designer on how he continues to share Indian culture and couture through his own lens

Mike Tommasiello

11 October 2024

In the summer of 1999, a young Bengali student named Sabyasachi Mukherjee graduated from the National Institute of Fashion Technology India and four months later founded his eponymous brand. Since, he has come to dress not just some of the biggest actors in Bollywood (an industry that eclipses the American movie industry in revenue) but expand his reach across the globe with flagship stores and distribution in the various fashion capitals of the world, most recently opening one of New York City’s most opulent and glamorous stores. 

Thanks to his incredibly elegant designs, which seamlessly blend traditional Indian craftsmanship with contemporary fashion, Mukherjee landed the attention of an ever-developing audience. As Western fashion culture opens its doors to new participants, it’s no surprise that Mukherjee continues to make such a significant impact, having already dressed various celebrities for some of the top fashion events of the year including the Met Gala and Oscars—while remaining fiercely loyal to his Indian roots. Recently, he hosted an event for the Great Elephant Migration in his West Village store, and opened his doors not just to 100 life-sized elephant sculptures but to New York’s fashion, elite including Carolina Herrera, Waris Ahluwalia, Martha Stewart and countless others. 

We sat down recently with Mukherjee to discuss not just his design ethos and perspective, but how he continues to share Indian culture and couture through his own lens. 

Your work effortlessly blends traditional Indian craftsmanship with contemporary fashion sensibilities. How do you maintain that delicate balance?

Being a global traveler, I get to see the best the world has to offer. I understand the talent and skill our local communities possess, and realize my Indian roots make my designs unique. My success comes from an ability to synthesize the DNA of our local artisans with the needs of the global consumer. Before I was a designer, I worked as a stylist. That background of understanding how people dress has helped me create collections that bridge the gap between local craft and international style.

Your designs are often a celebration of opulence, yet they carry a softer elegance. What inspires this juxtaposition of grandeur and subtlety in your creations?

The center of my sensibility has always been Calcutta, a city that reigns supreme in opulence and cerebral sophistication. I think the city’s intellectual heart is manifested in the multitude of creative individuals from here. As a Bengali, I’ve had access to this great mixing of hedonism with the sophistication of culture. This is how I grew up; it has shaped my consciousness.  

You’ve spoken about the importance of nostalgia in your work. Can you share how your personal memories or cultural heritage influence your design process?

I have grown up in a beautiful city, Calcutta, that has been the heartbeat of a glorious culture that inspired exceptional poets, philosophers, Nobel Laureates, writers, artists, filmmakers and designers. When your life is surrounded by such richness and history, you carry it into the future. Nostalgia automatically becomes a part of your creative language.

Your collections often feature a strong narrative. How important is storytelling in your design philosophy, and how do you weave it into the fabrics, colors,and embellishments of your pieces?

I don’t think people buy products anymore. We buy philosophy, culture and values. Through our purchases, the mind is able to travel into a greater human community. It is important for luxury to tell stories about provenance: the communities and history that bring about creation. By using traditional fabrics, heritage embroideries and generational crafts we are telling the story of local artisans and the many lifetimes of dedication embodied in each stitch.

Collaborations like your recent partnership with Morgenthal Frederics have expanded your global reach. How do you approach maintaining your Indian identity while working with other brands? 

A collaboration is only successful if there is mutual respect between both parties. If each company upholds its traditions and stays true to its identity, the sum will be greater than the individual parts. If Sabyasachi cannot tell an Indian story, then I will not enter into the agreement. With Morgenthal Frederics, the common theme was traditional hand craftsmanship: their frames are developed using the same heritage techniques as Sabyasachi jewelry. We wanted to create something together that was precious, timeless and classic, which is the ethos of the brand.

Your brand is not just about clothes, but about an entire lifestyle—whether it’s interiors or jewelry and all your stores, especially the NYC store, exhibit this. How do you continue to build the world of Sabyasachi in a three-dimensional way across the board and making each place feel unique but also part of the larger brand story?

I have always maintained that Sabyasachi is not just a fashion brand, but a lifestyle brand. In their attempt to scale, modern companies have lost the very essence that made fashion work: the sensorial and the atmospheric. I combine those experiences in all of my stores, in the stories we tell, and in how we service our clients, even down to our packaging. What people are buying today is not just a product, but a philosophy. Everything we do reflects our commitment to upholding the heritage, sophistication, and quality of India.

You’ve cultivated a strong community of artisans who are integral to your creations. How do you view your role in preserving and promoting Indian craftsmanship in the global market?

I am unique in the market because I am Indian, and I have always said that India is not a third-world economy but a first-world civilization. We have many age-old techniques and crafts that are superlative. India has so many stories to tell; we have just forgotten how to tell them. We must take a page from the French and market them. In my lifetime, I want to create India’s first global luxury brand by using Indian craftsmanship. I truly believe it’s the best in the world, and you can only preserve that knowledge by creating a strong sense of commerce around it. 

How do you stay ahead of trends while still holding onto the timelessness that defines Sabyasachi?

Early in my career, I told myself that if I had to choose between financial growth and greater value, I would choose value. The quest for top-line revenue often leads to short-term decisions that spark business but eventually fade away. If you are chasing value, the business becomes timeless. We rarely do runway shows; I don’t follow fashion seasons. We bring out collections when there is something important to say to the market; otherwise, our product remains timeless and classic. By swimming against the tide of greed within the fashion industry, we have built a business of integrity—one that gives value and pride to our consumers.

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Interview: Raul Lopez, Founder and Creative Director of LUAR

We sat down with the fashion designer ahead of his SS25 show

Mike Tommasiello

11 September 2024

Raul Lopez has been tirelessly designing since the age of 12 but over the last ten years, his namesake brand, LUAR (Raul spelled backward), has captured the attention of the fashion and cultural communities. Lopez’s eye-catching designs weave in personal topics—whether that’s religion, his upbringing in New York City or the joyful nature of Dominican heritage. Lopez has become an inspiration to young creatives across the globe, as well, through not just his clothing but also his messaging.

In February of this year, Beyonce graced LUAR’s Bushwick, Brooklyn runway show—and her support only heightened interested in Lopez. This season, in advance of his SS25 show, the designer teamed up with American Express, long known for their patronage of the arts and culture, for a limited edition version of one of his iconic silhouettes, the Ana bag. We sat down with Lopez in anticipation of the show, to chat all things NYC, culture and design.

How does your background and history as a native New Yorker play into your work and collection? 

I love that I’m able to partner with brands to put together amazing runway shows and after parties. I’m always told that there’s such a New York energy at my shows, and I think it’s because my community is so involved in our brand identity. The kids that are a part of our world remind me so much of who I was at their age—the defiance, the boldness. 

What’s your ideal night out in NYC? 

Fine dining with my friends at a restaurant that we know and love.

What do you see at the intersection of food and fashion?

It’s about presentation. There’s creativity in food just like in fashion. The same way you can decorate a plate and be moved by the flavors in a dish, you can be moved by seeing a fab look go down the runway.

What do you hope young kids likely sneaking into your show take away from your work and message? 

Don’t let your circumstances define you. Never lose your resourcefulness, because you can create something really great and be an inspiration for the next generation.

How did this partnership with Amex come about and how did it feel like a natural extension for your brand? 

I had been wanting to make a gold version of the Ana bag for a while, so when American Express approached me, there was no hesitation.

What are the design elements that make the Ana bag so recognizable?

The Ana bag comes from references of my grandmother’s bags from the ’60s. When approaching my collaboration with American Express Gold Card, it made sense for me to highlight the different colors that the card comes in: Signature Gold, Rose Gold and the newly released White Gold. Also, for the first time, we added charms to the bag that also reflect the different benefits of the card including travel and food. 

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Interview: Cole Sparrow-Crawford on His Walk Gently Collaboration with Arc’teryx

Seven gender-neutral products born from connection and community

Katharine Erwin

1 August 2024

Walk Gently, a new design platform for Indigenous voices, was created in collaboration with xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) artist and designer Cole Sparrow-Crawford and technical outerwear performance company Arc’teryx. Arc’teryx, was founded on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples, a place known today as Vancouver, BC—the same Coast Salish region where Sparrow-Crawford’s ancestors have lived for time immemorial. Walk Gently honors collaboration—the cooperative and respectful relationship between people with land and sea. For it, Sparrow-Crawford incorporates traditions of fishing, canoeing as well as Coast Salish weaving and  ancestral design patterns.  

Though the physical, purchasable tangibles from the Walk Gently collaboration are seven gender-neutral apparel products ranging from footwear, apparel, packs and a blanket (a first for Arc’teryx), the emotional tangibles are connection and community. 

We spoke with Sparrow-Crawford about his journey thus far in the Walk Gently platform. 

For those who haven’t walked among cedar on the coast, can you describe the smell and other senses that you experience?

Being in the coastal elements among the cedar, is an experience that offers an amazing opportunity to connect with the natural world, as well as its history. Throughout the Salish territory the mighty cedar tree is a vital component to our landscape and way of life. This tree displays the history of this land and can be felt when walking among them with the scale/size of the old growth. I also see my own history in this tree. You can walk through the forest and spot harvesting strips that have taken place generations before, and connect my ancestors to this very place, practicing the same traditions we do today with cedar harvesting. This natural element offers a connection to history and who has occupied this land since time immemorial.

Fish, cedar, and berries have been honored in this collection. Can you talk about harvesting in a good way?

For my people, harvesting is an example of how we can be a part of our ecosystem and help it thrive. But some only see harvesting as an act of taking. How we have lived in relationship with the land offers everyone a way of life that emulates reciprocity. A true relationship. Instead of viewing it as an opportunity to take from the land, the way my people have lived shows we can occupy territory for generations and allow it to thrive in abundance alongside us. Harvesting is one of the many traditions in my culture that serves this relationship we carry on from Salish ancestry.

Would you be able to speak to the length of this collaboration and the community approach with HOST Consulting? And how can this approach be seen as an act of decolonization?

To be able to bring in other Coast Salish voices to support the messaging behind Walk Gently, was one of the most meaningful things I experienced in my journey with Arc’teryx. HOST Consulting was a key resource to me and many teams throughout the stages of branding this collection and connecting that to our communities. Arc’teryx was willing to adapt in their process and learn from us on how to work with our people respectfully. This was an act of decolonization within itself.

Working with a company, that since its creation has been a part of an industry that promotes outdoor tourism, they recognize the space they occupy and gave us the space to be valued in that. I believe this sets a precedent for other companies in the outdoor industry.

Is there is a connection to a dugout/canoe taking years to make and this collection?

As I approached this collaboration and continue the platform, and why I chose this name for it, is to reflect our process. We are walking gently together. This definitely connects to the process of canoe building, the patience and commitment it takes to create something that substantial takes time and dedication. And as it is a sign of respect and thanks in my culture, I raise my hands up to Arc’teryx, and every individual I had the pleasure to work with in creating this, as we all put our love and care in to ensuring we were paying the respect to all this represents for both of our communities.

Weaving and carving are so technical. Can you speak to the process and (if there is) connection to synthetic technical clothing?

All throughout Salish history my people have been technical designers. Using the natural resources around us to build gear that was essential for our survival and ways of life. This was why I chose to display those traditions and mix it with the modern technical design Arc’teryx does. We design with the same purpose, to solve a problem and help those using these materials to be out actively on the land, safe in their environment.

Are there some artists in your community or other arts who you have learned from and/or inspire you who you’d like to mention?

There are many artists in my community and throughout my design journey that helped me on my path to representing Coast Salish design in this industry. In my family my aunts Wendy, Debra and Robyn Sparrow, who were also featured as e-commerce models for Walk Gently, are a major inspiration to me through their work in revitalizing Salish weaving. As well as for my aunt Debra for teaching me this tradition. The blankets were made to honor them and all those weavers that continue this practice on today. Vivian Campbell is an esteemed cedar basket weaver in my community in Musqueam that I am so grateful for teaching me this tradition. As well as many other artists in my community that continue our practices that inspire me through their work.

Outside of my community I’m very grateful for those at the Cutting Room Design Academy in Vancouver, for allowing me to learn with them there about technical design for two years before going to Parsons for Fashion Design. As well as those in New York that helped me in learning the industry and arts outside of my culture. There are so many inspirational and wonderful individuals I’ve had the pleasure to learn from, and as I continue in this journey, I find more every day. Especially those indigenous artists today creating representation for their people and ways of life in their respective industries. In the arts and beyond.

Is there anything you’d like readers to know about you and this collaboration that hasn’t been asked yet?

I hope this collaboration helps people that interact with it and feel they can represent it themselves. Whether Indigenous or not, Walk Gently is a platform for everyone to come together to do just that. To think about our relationships with the land and all the life we share it with and learn from those that have been here before us, on how to live in reciprocity.

In terms of something I would like readers to know about me, is that I’m also learning how to do that. I hope to continue to connect with those in the indigenous community as well as the design community to learn more.

Are there more collections in the works with you or other artists?

I will be continuing with Arc’teryx and collaborating with them to build the Walk Gently platform. I’m very much looking forward to what the future has in store. More importantly, to bring this to other Indigenous communities and creatives that would be willing to collaborate.

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Recent Footwear Collabs for Fitness and Recovery

Different summer shoes for different needs, each an intriguing mix of brands

Josh Rubin

10 July 2024

We love a footwear collaboration and right now there are so many thoughtful partnerships that blend performance, style and sustainability. District Vision and New Balance present the FuelCell SC Elite v4, a top-tier race day shoe highlighted by its monochrome palette and minimalist design. Advisory Board Crystals and Merrell’s enhanced Hydro Moc Strap combines the original design with retro and futuristic elements. And Vivobarefoot’s just launched collaboration with Timbaland is a 2,000 pair limited-edition Motus Strength shoe that merges natural movement with high-impact workout capabilities; each pair is hand-signed by Timbaland. Each of these collaborations leverages the best of their partners to deliver shoes that look great, perform phenomenally and have their own story to tell.

District Vision’s collaboration with New Balance focuses on a monochrome palette and minimalist design to accentuate the high-performance FuelCell SC Elite v4, a top-tier race day shoe. This model combines the propulsive FuelCell technology with a thinner carbon fiber plate for superior energy return in a lightweight package. It features a semi-translucent mesh upper, co-branded tongue label and sockliner and the brands’ wordmarks at the outer heel counter. The Energy Arc technology pairs sport-specific carbon fiber plate geometry with strategic midsole voids to increase stored energy and deliver a higher energy return, complemented by a rocker profile for smooth transitions.

Advisory Board Crystals and Merrell have teamed up to enhance the Hydro Moc Strap, preserving its original design ethos while infusing it with new elements like pull tabs and a holographic authenticity patch. The upgraded Hydro Moc features a magnetic adjustable strap with old school foam padding in sleek design that seamlessly blends futuristic and vintage aesthetics. Its water-friendly EVA foam upper offers a lightweight, flexible fit and is easy to clean, while the BLOOM® performance foam, made from algae biomass, transforms green water into clean water. They’re great for recovery, water-wading or just around-the-town strolls.

Vivobarefoot and Timbaland have collaborated on a limited-edition version of Vivobarefoot’s Motus Strength shoe, with only 2,000 pairs available. Designed for natural movement during high-impact workouts, each pair is hand-signed by Timbaland, who credits the shoes with improving his health. The campaign includes a new song, a film, and the Movement Fundamentals VivoHealth course, free with every purchase. Additionally, there’s a giveaway where one winner will spend a day with Timbaland. The partnership, combining music and natural health, promotes a lifestyle harmonizing artistic expression and wellness, reflecting Timbaland’s philosophy of simplicity and reconnection with nature.

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Interview: Italian Fashion Designer Jezabelle Cormio

The emerging talent speaks about alternative style, gender roles and what it means to make truthful design

Paolo Ferrarini

1 December 2023

For decades, novelties in Italian fashion were rare when it came to new brands and designers. This has changed rapidly in recent years, as evidenced by the increasingly frequent international awards attributed to the new generation of Italian designers. Among these, Cormio is undoubtedly one of the most exciting.

Jezabelle Cormio, a designer of Italian American origin based in Milan, founded the brand after studying at the prestigious Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium, under famed director Walter Van Beirendonck. Her brand was immediately characterized by an eccentric aesthetic vision, defiant of traditional gender roles, that embraced kitsch.

Recently, Cormio was one of the participants in Forces of Fashion, an international event curated by Vogue in Rome. There, we met her to discuss fashion, family, tailoring and what it means to be a designer today in Italy.

Let’s start with your fashion education. You choose Antwerp, where creativity is seen as more important than industry.

In Antwerp, fashion design culture is based on personal DNA. The stakes are high—to find out who you are and then build this little brand based on yourself through the years. Students are not asked to think about the commercial side or propose things that they would see, let’s say, in a Versace show. No one’s asking anybody to think, “What would I do if I worked at Dolce & Gabbana?” No one cares. 

How were you able to combine this northern European drive toward self-expression with a more commercially oriented Italian side?

One thing is, I don’t really see my work as very Italian. I think many people are surprised sometimes when they find out I’m Italian. I’m not trying to look Italian, but I am also Italian; I can’t choose. One thing that I find really fun is to think about Italy from outside and inside at the same time. Because I’m half American and half Italian, I always enjoy critical thinking by looking at the other country from the outside. 

Your sources of inspiration—like Tyrol or soccer—are unusual for the fashion world. What makes those references interesting to you? Is it a way to distance yourself from tradition?

When I went to South Tyrol for the first time, I was in my mid-twenties. All the souvenir stores were filled with stuff I’ve seen my whole life, everywhere. I’ve seen traditional stuffed hearts in Puglia, pot holders in my aunt’s kitchen, Roman guys with Austrian coats, rich people’s weddings in Switzerland or Austria.

I think the Tyrolean aesthetic is appropriated by the Italian upper class to distance themselves from the Italian vulgar aesthetic that we can’t get rid of. There are codes; it’s pure, it’s clean. Also, the food, the water and the air are supposedly clean and pure there. And then, on the other hand, I also see that Germanic side that is very funny, like sausage, beer and sex jokes.

Is there anything from classic tailoring that influences your work?

I have a love-hate relationship with tailoring. Sometimes, it’s a cage; sometimes, elegance is a cage. It’s a little bit of an alibi for not having something else to say. I really like jerseys and denim now. And graphics and embroidery. I’m not saying that one day I won’t get a lot of satisfaction from tailoring, but there’s something so immediate, youthful and communicative about these other things.

The first time we saw something from Cormio, we fell in love with your embroidery. It recalled some very intimate memories from youth. I’m sure that many others recognize something personal in your products. Do you think about that when you design?

I used to think about it a lot in the beginning, and then it started rolling freely. When I was a small child, my great-grandmother was the only person in the family tree who could make anything. She would knit us sweaters and they were my favorites. Sometimes, they had these fibers that we wouldn’t see in Italy because it was from my American great-grandmother. They had magical powers to me like you can’t lose it, it can’t break.

When I started making clothes a few years ago, I couldn’t imagine somebody taking something I made and throwing it away. So, I try as much as possible to create a bond between the person and the clothing. If it has an emotional response or this tactile aspect of embroidery, if you can tangibly understand it’s been handmade, I think people develop a stronger relationship. They don’t just look at it as something that was supposed to fix some bad mood two weeks ago.

We know you have a passion for eBay, Etsy, Vinted and others.

Yeah, it’s my part-time job to find useless things!

Tell us more about that. 

It goes in phases because I need a lot of time. My latest obsession is subito.it because I find all the best things in the world. I love to scroll until I’m completely nauseous and my finger hurts. And then I find something, and I could drive to Naples to get it. I don’t care. I just moved into a new house. I went to Modena, put a wardrobe for my daughter on top of the car, and drove back home in the rain.

On eBay, I buy a lot of stuff. The good thing about eBay is that the platform has never really gotten up to date. It’s so uncomfortable to use that lazy people don’t use it. Stuff stays on eBay for longer. Whereas Vinted is so immediate that people are just constantly buying. And the shipping is pretty cheap. People buy really fast on Vinted, but eBay has remained the Amazon forest of online platforms.

In a recent interview, you said that in your vision for menswear, you wish that boyfriends could steal objects from their girlfriends.

That would be fun. It’s not gender neutral; it’s dress up. This is how I feel comfortable. It’s not if you’re a girl you wear a skirt, if you’re a boy you wear pants. It’s more like [finding] the safest area, and you can have fun outside it. There is a real fascination with stealing stuff from your boyfriend’s wardrobe or a woman appropriating a man’s wardrobe. But men don’t do it because they feel emasculated.

I noticed that in your photo shoots, there are a lot of women of all ages and many children, too. Why is this?

It has to do with the fact that I have a child. It was tough to reconcile having a family and not resigning from trying to feel young, dynamic, in touch with the world, and cool in a way.

But when I had the child, I didn’t have any references. I didn’t know anybody with kids; none of my friends had kids. I realized there was so much prejudice from my circle of people, the creative class or the new generation. People are very afraid of giving up everything that they have conquered to become bourgeois, bland parents. I found it very hard to reconcile those two things because I felt like I was being asked to abandon everything I was before and just hear, “Be on time at the kindergarten! Bring the fucking diapers! We don’t care that you have a company to run, fit in with the other moms!”

I thought there had to be more imagery about being young and having a child. I’m not even that young. I had a child at 30; nowadays, I’m considered a very young mother. I also thought one thing that was expected of me was to abandon all forms of sensuality or personal sexual identity.

You are part of the new generation of Italian designers selected by Vogue for Fashion Panorama and now the Roman edition of Forces of Fashion. You all have your brands and are not creative directors in big companies. You all know each other, and some of you are close friends. Do you see yourselves as a group?

We know each other, and we are close. We get together when we have to discuss industry dynamics because we all get the same treatment, in a way. From a sociological point of view, we have our own brand because we don’t fit in with the other brands. And the other brands are so big that they take up all the space. I’m sure we were all lucky for some reason.

I’ve had this brand for four years, but I can say I’ve had it for 10 years in different forms. I started producing things under my name when I was still in university because of some lucky opportunity with Opening Ceremony. Then, I didn’t know how to push it forward for a while because I didn’t know anything: I didn’t know about showrooms or investors; it just looked very slow from the outside. 

We also live in a society that hates young people right now. The fact that you might want to go and do something on your own seems like a survival tactic in a way.

Will you be able to change aesthetics? We ask that because the things you and your colleagues make are sometimes tricky to understand and they’re not highly commercial. It is brave.

Or naive. Could we change the aesthetics? Yes. The question is how fast and how much, what does it take. When I see the big maisons, some look identical for years. There’s nothing new, and it’s also not very specific to our time. And then there is also the fact that very big brands make everything that is trending right now. They don’t pick sides. They don’t just say, “We won’t do the baseball hat.” No, everybody does the baseball hat. It’s so smooth, but it’s also a little bit bland.

I think the opposite of that is probably a brand that doesn’t do everything and does a very specific, truthful design. On a tactile level, it feels a bit different because something that is not mass-produced has a taste; it really has a feeling.

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Interview: PURPLE BRAND Co-Founder Luke Cosby

From a 10,000-square-foot NYC HQ to a fresh take on denim, this international brand is leading with innovation

David Graver

9 November 2023

Founded in Vancouver in 2017 by a collective of friends that included industry veterans Luke Cosby and Rob Lo, PURPLE BRAND is a luxury denim apparel destination that emphasizes on design, construction and details. In the last year, the label has moved into a sprawling 10,000-square-foot SoHo, NYC HQ and lounge-space and begun construction on their first store, also in SoHo, which will open in March 2024. These in-person spaces are more than retail locations—they’re immersions into the PURPLE experience and they’ve been imagined for as social spaces more than sales hubs. To learn more about the future of PURPLE, we spoke with Cosby in the SoHo HQ, as we parsed through the super-sharp FW23 collection.

What brought you into the world of denim?

Denim is utilitarian. People wear it every day, for all types of occasions. Rob and I have been in the industry for our entire adult lives. We were starting to buy denim at $900 price points because that’s where we were seeing something that was an interesting proposition: that kind of American-made, raw denim. We were getting into our thirties and we were tired of waiting a year until our jeans had shown some expression of who we were. There’s pain involved in breaking denim in. We thought we could do something in an authentic way, at a price that made sense to people. $900 didn’t make sense.

The definition of luxury seems to be changing almost every day. How do you define luxury and how does it factor into what PURPLE is doing?

Staple is a not sexy word. It almost implies boring. Jeans and T-shirts can make you feel good. They are the pieces a lot of people wear the most. We wanted to craft them at the same level as luxury brands. We don’t want to own your whole outfit; we want to own a piece of it. But we want to be your most stocked item because you’re wearing our stuff the most. Getting to feel that quality every day, as you wear it in, that’s the luxury.

We work with craftsman from around the world, mostly from China and Italy, who have generational factories. One of our Chinese factories has been in business for over a century. There’s a lot of know-how in our garments.

Are you forever on a quest for new materials?

Absolutely, because we get bored easily. It’s always changing. There’s only one way for a business to grow—it’s to make yourself consistently uncomfortable. We push our comfort zones in the way that we design. Sometimes it lands, sometimes it doesn’t—but we always try. That’s Rob’s policy on design: let’s try.

How did you expand from denim to pieces like a leather jackets or hoodies?

When we are coming up with new categories or items for the collection, it’s for two reasons generally. We either see a hole in the market and we are trying to service our customers. Or, we ask if it’s really gangster. Is it fun? Does it make us feel good? That’s what’s most important.

There’s a vocal denim community worldwide. Do you engage? Or do you just do your own thing?

People are very passionate and very opinionated and it’s hard to change those opinions. We create denim that a lot of people love and maybe a lot of people might not love—but we create denim that we believe in. I come from a sales background. I have personally sold raw made-in-America denim that’s composed of dead stock fabric. Nobody touches it that’s not American. It is sewn in Downtown LA from fabrics found in North Carolina. I’ve sold Cheap Monday denim—super high volume, fashionable denim—for $60. I’ve sold R13, luxury denim. I’ve sold lots of different types of denim and there’s something for everybody out there.

If you ask 10 New Yorkers, what’s your favorite slice, you are going to get 10 different answers. It’s like with denim, there’s something for everybody out there.

Can we talk a little bit about your epic New York office space?

We’ve been here since November of last year. Previously we only had an office in Vancouver, but I was based in Houston. My office was really an airplane. I went to LA or New York or to our sales teams in Milan or our designer in Paris. The time came when we needed to have an American hub, a home for our creative team and our e-comm. The purpose is multi-pronged. It’s a work space, but the front part is a lounge that we are building out. It’s going to be a private store for friends of the brand, and a place to showcase the goods that haven’t come out yet and our retail concepts that we plan to roll out. We have a custom sound system and in the back we have a photo studio and a kitchen. It’s a place for everybody to meet in the middle. We have so many resources here in New York. We have influential friends of the brand, a lot of them in the music industry, popping in daily. We see it as the creative hub for PURPLE. We want to be known as SoHo’s living room for people in the know.

How does e-comm factor in the PURPLE brand right now?

Rob and I come from a wholesale background. We came out of the gates heavily in wholesale. Our business was 90% wholesale. At a certain point, our customers were buying our same jeans over and over from those outlets so we began to expand our online presence and make more exclusive products for our web store and brick and mortar. We were also able to start storytelling. We’ve been able to find our voice and our comfort zone.

How would you direct a new consumer to the brand?

I recently read articles on the demise of skinny jeans. It’s not true. I personally wear jeans that are all shapes but our sales are still 80% skinny. Skinny might sound like a naughty word for people 40 and up but our skinny doesn’t hug your calves. It’s a nice shape. It’s all about the shape. I would start people with our 001 skinny jean in black. You cannot go wrong with a black, slim jean. You can wear them to events at night.

A lot of our customers graduate to what we call a full flare. It’s kind of a boot cut, it’s kind of a flare. It’s the jean of the moment. We are making super-wide fits, too, because we know they’re in style. I don’t like going back to trends that I wore in high school but this one I’m enjoying.

What are your hopes for the next five years?

I am mostly interested in sustainable, meaningful growth. Dollars are a byproduct of those things—doing right by people, offering something to the customer that is meaningful. We are expanding into womenswear; it will launch in February. We’re extremely excited about that. We also see a strengthening of our brick-and-mortar experience.

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Interview: Herschel Supply Co’s Co-Founder Jamie Cormack

From opening a first-ever NYC store to reinventing the classics with consumer input

Evan Orensten

24 October 2023

Since its inception in 2009, Vancouver-based Herschel Supply Co has designed a coveted, easily recognizable range of travel bags, backpacks and accessories. With the onset of the pandemic, more than a decade after their debut, the brand decided to redesign every single silhouette in their roster—with sustainability, finesse and future-forward fabrication at the core. More than 70 classic products, in various colors, were updated and upgraded. Coupled with the opening of Herschel‘s first-ever NYC store, the brand is reinforcing their identity for the future. To learn more, we spoke with co-founder Jamie Cormack about their push into travel gear, the enduring power of NYC and more.

Let’s talk a bit about Herschel’s journey. We are really interested in where the brand is going—but we do think it’s important to nod to your past.

We always talk about having a good foundation to build off of. During COVID, we were told not to go out and to stay home. It was a tough time for us. We do best when we go out our front door, travel the globe, go back to school, be active. But this was the first time in our lives that we probably slowed down enough to look back at our origin story. The interesting part was just prior to COVID, we had a 10 year anniversary. We had already been pulling all the old archives, and really taking some time to reflect on them and where we had been. Then COVID hit.

As we were coming out of it, it was interesting for us because it was one of those moments where we thought “hey, let’s let’s go back to the very beginning and reintroduce ourselves.” We actually decided to refresh our origin story. We wanted to redo our “about,” and go back to what Herschel means. It’s fun to tell that story because I don’t know if we did the best job of telling it 13 or 14 years ago. We haven’t really ever done anything like that before because, especially over the last five years, we were so busy just keeping up with everything going on. It was nice to pause, to go back and reintroduce the brand. We don’t do that enough. We just assume that people know. You need to make sure your brand means something, that you know your label and your product stand for something.

How did you do that? You live with this story every day—how do you step back from it and say, “Hey, wait, maybe we need to revise how we’re talking about it.”

I’m a pretty practical person and I love founder stories. Everyone loves a founder story because there are ups and there are downs; it’s super-big wins and momentum. But there are also a lot of hills to climb and a lot of big, big steps back. For me, it was like let’s veer upward from the founder story and just talk about mindset and the real feeling of why it is named Herschel—so people can understand it when they say it. I want people to know what that white woven labels stands for.

Can you share some of this with us?

Herschel [is a place]—my great grandfather homesteaded there, my grandpa was born there. My dad was born there. My mom was born 10 kilometers from there. We still have tons of family (there). So I went back there with four individuals, a photographer and videographer to capture it. My uncle was there. My dad ended up driving out for the day. You know, it’s just one of those things going back home looking at all the stuff. It’s just fun to get together. Every single person we’ve brought out in a big Herschel van from Vancouver. It’s just funny how many people stopped to talk with us that we almost couldn’t get any work done.

How does this align with the redesign?

When you’re first designing, you’re trying to get everything done at such a crazy pace. This time, we actually looked at ourselves. We always look to the past to try to move forward. We started with this idea of the classics with a modern twist, right? I’ve always respected what’s been done in the past and I really wanted since day one to be a classic brand—and a brand that had style, that had quality, that had purpose but truly would be timeless.

We’ve since talked a lot about sustainability and impact. We knew that was going to be our journey for Herschel, but it’s hard to make changes on products. We just had to take the handcuffs off and look at the entire image. And we had to do that with sustainability at the forefront. So we looked at every single one of our silhouettes. And of course everybody in the company got super-excited about that. But I don’t think we knew how heavy the lift that was going to be.

How have you addressed sustainability?

We came from being about 6% recycled fabrications, now up to 95%. To have that big of a switchover, in one season, that’s huge. It’s just the right thing to do. And, we started the entire impact department to really look at every single aspect of our footprint globally.

Can you share more with us about the new classic designs?

We got a modernized feature set. We got a better bag overall—we have a bag that’s built for the future. As far as fabrication, it just looks and feels better. There weren’t a ton of tweaks. Our biggest pain-point was that it would have been easier if we didn’t have to have our bags look so familiar to how they were. We didn’t want to pay homage to what we call our classics. Our biggest thing was that from across the block, you would look at it and it would all look familiar, although the lines might be slightly different. We can modernize it by colorblocking. We can make it a little bit more efficient, just by looking at every component—like the way zippers work, just so you can have the right action. Every single detail, I was like, we need to redesign.

Why keep the visual impact so similar?

We know who we are and we know who we’re not. I think that when we started the brand we wanted to make sure we were democratic. There was nobody out there that was telling that story. Most people talk about their bags or their accessories, they talk about the product. They didn’t talk about why that company did it. They didn’t get people to love the brand, they got them to love the product. Of course, I want people to love our product, but I also want them to love our brand and I want it to be democratic. I want it to be good design. I want it to be classic design. I want it to feel timeless. And when I say timeless, a lot of people might think well that’s boring, but no—within that there’s so much innovation. We do that through the people we work with, the artists we work with, the collaborations we do with them, the new categories we bring to market. I hope people can see that.

What are your thoughts on travel bags?

I always say that our luggage has to be perfect—it has to feel like a new handbag. You always want people to want to carry it with them all the time. If you can do that, it just has to feel like part of you, like it can be easy. You shouldn’t have to think about it. It also has to have a bit of a personality.

Do feel a personal connection with NYC?

l love New York, but I also love Vancouver. New York is one of those cities where I just about ended up. I was 21, on an internship for Sony BMG, and I think I probably would have never left after a few months but I think it would have turned into something different. You know, it’s one of those cities that grabs you and tries not to let you get out.

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Proto Collective is Defining the Future of Footwear End-to-End

Their debut sneaker, the IRIS-D, is made in the US with full supplier and manufacturing transparency

Josh Rubin

6 October 2023

Some of the most famous names in footwear—including Jeff Staple and Jeffrey Henderson plus advisor Melody Ehsani—have banded together with pioneering creatives like Katie Longmyer and WeWork’s cofounder Miguel McKelvey to form Proto Collective, an organization dedicated to the design, production and culture surrounding the future of footwear. Formed back in 2020, Proto debuted a low-top sneaker named the IRIS-D in April 2023. In the time between, Proto enacted critical change around industry representation and was meticulous about their supply chain and carbon footprint. The brand continues to be deliberate in their development—slow, carefully considered and transparent. In fact, the label inside of the IRIS-D lists every single US vendor, factory and manufacturer—from the ball and chain tag to the sock liner.

The earliest wisps of Proto Collective began to form in December 2019 and January 2020, with Staple and McKelvey conversing about the future of footwear and, as the former describes, “sneaker culture nerd talk.” When the pandemic began to spread in early 2020, and as Black Lives Matter commanded international attention and WeWork went through a very public change, Staple and McKelvey observed the conflict between sales-y brand attention on social media and the critical social change that was being broadcast beside it. McKelvey wanted to buy sneakers from a brand that not only paid attention to broader cultural movements but represented the change he desired. He couldn’t find one—neither could Staple.

“We started to think about this triangulation of brands that try to do their best to not have a negative impact on the earth, brands that are owned and operated by people who look like their consumers—versus the two biggest powerhouse brands in crunchy Beaverton, Oregon and Nuremberg, Germany—and brands that have a cool factor,” Staple tells COOL HUNTING. “These three things were existing in separate pockets, but not triangulating. I wanted a dope, BIPOC, female-majority lead organization that makes desirable shoes that are not negatively impactful to the planet. It didn’t exist.”

McKelvey and Staple decided to partner up and do it themselves by assembling the perfect team. “Miguel doesn’t want to do super-niche things. He wants to do things on a global scale that really move the needle. And frankly, for something like this, you kind of have to do it on a global scale or else like you’re not doing the right thing,” Staple continues. “You kind of have to go big or go home on this. We knew we’d have to pretty much assemble like an Avengers-level group. Miguel said, ‘let’s start looking.’ I was assembling the team more from a footwear-style standpoint, cultural, and he started to assemble them more from an operational administrative standpoint.”

It went from a conversation to a brand quickly—though they toyed with producing something other than footwear. During the development process, McKelvey got passionate about producing in the US. “With sustainability, that’s 50% of the battle—of lowering your carbon footprint, right. And then, as we all know, a lot of factory workers were laid off because of the exporting of work to Asia—and a lot of those people that were impacted are Black and Brown people. If you bring production back here you’re helping out with some of the other values that we really wanted to embody.”

Proto began to reverse engineer their designs. “We were saying okay, ‘America, what do we got? Who’s making stuff?’ And we found a factory that only makes fire-resistant boots. That’s all they do. But we we’re like, ‘Hey, you make boots. Maybe can we work together to now use your technology and innovation to make something lifestyle fashion and wearable?’ Right. So our thing is like: let’s find out who’s in our toolkit to be able to make stuff in America.”

The IRIS-D is completely assembled in America—and 90% of the components are manufactured in America. “The only thing that is not really is the outsole because we were working with Vibram. Their soles weren’t made in America, but we bought their soles that were already residing here,” Staple says of their choice to use deadstock material. Now, they’re working with Vibram’s innovation lab to develop their own Made in America products from scratch.

“Our first foot forward is this shoe,” Longmyer adds. “Through it, I want to have a conversation that’s like ‘this is actually the way to be, what people have been asking for, for a long time, and the spotlight is moving, and we can lift each other up.’ There’s a cultural shift happening.” Katie Longmyer is a life-long culture-maker and as the CEO of Proto brings her multi-hyphenate skills to a company that’s equally about enacting change as it is about creating products.

Longmyer credits the strength of the collective for Proto’s initial success and its unbounded potential. “I think this team is indescribably magical and filled with alchemy,” she says. “But we also have a bunch of people with technical and design and industrial experience that we need to lean into, and we need to make something and show everybody that it’s doable and that we are, you know, tasked with solving the biggest design challenge ever. We have these resources and this limited amount of time and money—and we’re trying to do it in an ethical way here in the US.” It’s a tall feat but the IRIS-D is already an inspiring example of success.